


Brothers

by RaccoonMama



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Car Accidents, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Uncertain Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-24
Updated: 2012-07-24
Packaged: 2017-11-10 15:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/467874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaccoonMama/pseuds/RaccoonMama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When tragedy strikes, a small family must find a way to cope...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brothers

It had, for the most part, been a day like any other. The trio sometimes went into town, though it wasn't very often, and it was a fortunate thing they had been “alive” so long. The townsfolk generally didn't mind them because for generations, the robots built by the family on the hill had just been a part of life. Right now, the Spine was accompanying Mr. Reed into the supermarket, mostly because he was strong enough to lift an entire cartload of groceries without any issue. The Jon was occupying himself by playing hopscotch with some kids up the sidewalk a way, and Rabbit?

Rabbit was sitting quietly on a bench.

It wasn't something very concerning. He at least was simply observing right now, watching some other kids play with a ball across the street. He and his brothers were quite versed at dealing with children, having seen every Walter after their creator grow up, as well as every child born into the Reed line since they had started working for the Walters. No matter how much the Spine sometimes tried to deny it, they all had a lot of experience with children, and so were exceptionally good at dealing with the smaller versions of the adults they worked with on a day to day.

Today wasn't really any sort of exception. There was nothing to worry about on such a lazy day, and the town was heavy with the kind of lazy ease that sometimes overtook such small places. He hummed, absently vocalizing, running over a song in his head that he'd been trying to hammer out. He did not often write sad songs; that was more the Spine's territory. Nonsensical tunes were best left to the Jon, and he had found his hand best lent itself to ballads. But something about this one just stuck in his head and he wanted to get it down later.

He heard the screech of tires up the street first. The music coming from him stopped, and he lifted his head to focus his bi-colored eyes in order to see what was starting to cause a commotion up the street. The Jon had slipped past him, looking as well, distracted as a couple of small children lost control of a rolling hula hoop that had made its way into the street. The next instant, a large pickup came into view, swerving recklessly. The horn was blaring, and Rabbit could just make out the driver's horrified face. He'd lost control of the truck!

The Spine was just coming out of the supermarket alongside Mr. Reed, both of them with arms loaded with groceries, as Rabbit stood. The hoop that had rolled into the street had been followed by a child too caught up in his game to realize the danger, and there were only a few seconds to act. He didn't hear either of his brothers yelling at him to stop. The copper and clockwork robot was out into the street, knee joints creaking and hissing at the sudden abuse they had not been accustomed to for many long years. He cursed the fact that he had not allowed for the upgrades, and hadn't kept up with his routine maintenance as much as the others, but only for a brief moment.

He didn't quite register his brothers screaming at him. His attention was entirely focused on that little boy. He managed to get his hands around the small waist, almost throwing the child out of the path of danger, and that was the last thing he had the chance to register.

* * *

The Spine did not want to see what he was seeing, but at the same time, he couldn't shut his eyes. Not for a second. He felt as though he was moving through water as he dropped the groceries he'd been holding, heading for the road just as the truck made first impact. He heard the crunching metal from both truck and his oldest brother's copper and brass frame, heard people screaming. Rabbit was slightly too heavy to be completely lifted by the truck, so instead he ended up getting rolled beneath it, one tire bouncing over the robot's long legs.

The impact did considerably slow down the out of control vehicle, which swerved into a nearby row of parked cars before coming to a complete stop. There was a woman hugging the child Rabbit had saved, sobbing, as a few people started to move toward the still robot that lay in the center of the road.

No. No one was going to pick apart his brother, or move him, or even touch him. The Spine skidded to his knees, tearing up the jeans he'd put on for the trip into town, but he didn't care. “Rabbit? Rabbit, come on, buddy. Speak to me.” No response. There were splits in the smooth metal, and Rabbit's jaw hung slack. Steam and smoke both were seeping from the cracks and holes made by the impact and subsequent crushing, some from his mouth and cheek vents as well, and his joints were sparking. “No. Oh, no no no no... no, Rabbit, no. Answer me, Rabbit!” The normally calm and composed robot was shaking now, his voice increasing in volume as panic set in. This was not happening. “I said answer me!”

He couldn't let it sink in that this was happening, and in his panic, the Spine did not register the Jon and Mr. Reed appearing at his side in short order.

“Rabbit!” The Jon's tone was unpleasantly distressed as he reached out for Rabbit's shoulder, only to be stopped by Mr. Reed. “Michael, he's...”

The human shook his head sharply. “We need to get him home to the mansion. I don't know if I can...” He trailed off when both of the other bots looked at him, expressions equally saddened. “I'll do what I can, guys, but this damage is extensive.”

The Spine frowned, pressing his fingertips against Rabbit's cheek before carefully closing his mouth. “I'm sure if you just do what you can, Mr. Reed... everything will be fine.”

* * *

Unsurprisingly, no one questioned the Spine when he retreated to the Hall of Wires after Steve came down to pick them up so Rabbit could be transported in a larger vehicle as opposed to the small car they'd taken down. He retreated from his body, allowing the wires to lift him to the ceiling, and did his best to force the images out of his mind. Deleting them would be an insult to Rabbit, who had done only what was right in a split second of decision. He coiled tighter, pressing his face against a nearby bundle of wires.

Let no one say Rabbit was not brave. Let no one tell him his older brother was slow or stupid or too empty minded to do anything right. The older robot was just as brave and selfless as anyone. He blinked a couple of times as he felt oil leaking onto his cheeks.

Some days, he cursed having the ability to feel such deep, gut-wrenching emotional pain.

The door opened and closed beneath him, and the chamber told him who had entered before they even had a chance to speak. As QWERTY puttered around aimlessly in front of the thin robot with the bouncy curls, trying to settle him by any manner of things from sombreros to sarsaparilla, the Jon simply fell into gazing up and waiting for his brother to descend. For once, he didn't speak, letting the monitor faced android prattle on endlessly as the Spine came down from his “nest” of wires, letting his body close around him.

“Michael's still working,” the Jon explained quietly. “I was in the way.”

The Spine sighed a bit, shooing QWERTY out of the way before reaching out to place his hands on the Jon's shoulders. “I'm sure if he said anything harsh, it wasn't said in anger. He's just working hard to make sure Rabbit's all in one piece. It'll be fine.”

The smaller robot nodded quietly, just pressing his forehead against the Spine's chest for a moment, not resisting when he was drawn into a strong hug. “Rabbit will be all right. He has to be. Right?”

“Of course.” The confidence in his voice was one thing, but he was not feeling so confident otherwise. “If anyone can muscle through this, he can.”

The two stood a moment in silence until the Jon lifted his head. “...right. He would never leave us like that.”

* * *

The day dragged on, and it was late before Mr. Reed finally exited the workshop, wiping oil and grease from his hands. He made his way up to the Hall of Wires, not entirely sure how to put down what was going on. He'd managed to repair the worst of the damage, but for some reason, even though his boiler was heating up properly, Rabbit's power core was refusing to respond. There was a very real possibility the oldest of the trio of antique automatons was not going to wake up.

Or at least, not with his sentience in tact.

He swallowed hard, slipping into the Hall of Wires to find the Spine sitting atop a bundle of wires, the Jon curled up on top of him, apparently powered down from how still the normally hyperactive robot was. The silvery robot did turn his head, though, glowing green eyes focusing on the human they had helped raise. “...how is he?”

“I've completed the repairs on the worst of the damage. Steve's in the process of running some diagnostics, but...”

The Spine sat up just slightly straighter. “But...?”

Mr. Reed watched him carefully, then gave a quiet sigh. “He's just not powering up. It's like his power core just isn't registering that it's there. I... he may never wake up, Spine. Or at least not as you know him.” He hesitated as he watched Jon stir as he started to power on. “You can probably go see him while the diagnostics are running.”

“You're sure it's all right?” The tall robot shifted, mostly so the Jon could sit up with a groggy sound, looking around until he spotted their human nearby. “I don't want to get in the way of anything important.”

The human shook his head. “You won't be interrupting anything. The diagnostics can run even with you two in the room. It may be...” He trailed off as the Jon looked at him, expression strained. “Just... go see him. Okay? I'll be back in a little while. I need to pick up some parts.”

He turned and walked out, leaving the two to sit in silence. The Spine helped the Jon stand first, then got to his feet as well. “Come on, Jon. Let's go give Rabbit some company.”

* * *

The Jon did not like the workshop. It usually meant someone had gotten damaged or something had broken, however intentional or unintentional it may have been. Today he hated it because Rabbit was laying on his back, stiff and still, completely powered down despite the steam that occasionally drifted from his cheek vents. That wasn't right. If he was able to process steam, he should be awake!

He moved over quickly, pulling up a chair to sit down next to his oldest brother, reaching up to put both hands on his arm. Rabbit still did not move. His eyes were open, but they did not glow. There just seemed to be no life in him.

“Rabbit?” The Jon made a face, scooting closer, giving Rabbit's arm a little shake. “Rabbit... we have a show this week. You can't keep sleeping. You'll miss all the fun! We were going to do Ice Cream Parade, remember?”

Still no response. As the Jon watched on helplessly, the Spine just stood in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed. “...Jon... Mr. Reed said Rabbit may never come to.”

He watched the small form hunch over in a pained wince, and the shift and bounce of the copper curls as the Jon shook his head violently. “No! Michael is the best mechanic there is! He and Steve will fix this. Rabbit'll wake up and things will be just the same as always.”

The Spine fell silent, leaning back with his arms folded. It wasn't as though he wanted to see Rabbit end like this. He still felt the edges of his earlier panic tickling in the back of his consciousness, and he flexed his fingers slightly. This was not the way any of them wanted to go, after all. A hundred years of life, learning to interact, to behave, to control the emotional responses that were nothing but a normal byproduct of being a fully functioning artificial intelligence.

There were times he wished he could forget about emotions. Just block out the ability to feel. They sang so frequently about being nothing more than cold, emotionless creatures who simulated human feelings just to put on face, but that was so far from the case. From the Jon's childish whimsy to Rabbit's hyperactive cheer to his own somewhat aloof demeanor. These things were what made it all the more upsetting when one of them wound up injured, and even worse when the damage was this severe.

“Of course he will.” He resented the words, and wished he could take them back the moment they came from his voice box, but there was no stepping back at this point. Worse, he knew that he would have to explain this to their current keeper, Peter Walter VI. A kind enough man, to be certain, and he loved the robots as dearly as any Walter ever had... but he was almost never around. “Everything will be fine.”

* * *

Almost a week had passed, and the Spine found himself the target of many of the Jon's questions. They'd had to cancel two shows as a result of Rabbit's damage, from which he had yet to wake or show any signs of recovering. Where did robots go when they shut down permanently? Was there even an afterlife for robots? Would Rabbit be the same if they got him a new power core? Did they have souls? Did they just stop being?

Thankfully, Michael and Sam had managed to distract the curly haired robot with ice cream sandwiches to feed the raccoons outside, and the Spine had slipped off to the workshop to sit next to Rabbit for a while. Steve had given him the news earlier. There was absolutely no activity in Rabbit's power core. It didn't look good for the oldest Walter bot.

“I remember you once saying you were a terrible older brother, Rabbit. You always said that. Always said that you were going to fall apart before the rest of us, but that was okay, because I'm the one that takes care of everyone.” The Spine lowered his head, just slightly, eyes closed. He felt oil leaking down his cheeks, steam rising from his neck and lips. “It's a bold faced lie, you know. You are a wonderful big brother. You've always taken care of us. I can handle anything else you put in front of me, but... and I feel you would appreciate the pun. Despite my name, I'm not the backbone here. You are. I don't know what we're going to do without you.”

He fell silent, resting his long fingered hand across Rabbit's forehead. He was ready to stand, to tell Michael he had at least said his own goodbyes, but a shaking hand closed around his wrist as he tried to leave. Looking down, he found Rabbit's eyes glowing dimly up at him, expression tight. “S-S-S-Spine...? Did I miss-miss the ice cream party?”

The Spine blinked, staring down at Rabbit for a long moment. He didn't care if anyone was watching now, nor did he mind the oil staining his cheeks. He just leaned down, scooping Rabbit into a hug, long arms enfolding the smaller robot, who made a confused sound against his taller brother's shoulder. “You didn't miss it at all, Rabbit. In fact... you're right on time.”


End file.
